Winterhawks fly north for clash with Cougars to open WHL Playoffs

The Portland Winterhawks will face the B.C. Division-champion Prince George Cougars in the opening round of the 2017 WHL Playoffs.

The Winterhawks entered the final day of the WHL regular season in third place in the U.S. Division, staring down a first-round head-to-head with the Seattle Thunderbirds. But a 7-2 loss to the Spokane Chiefs combined with a dramatic overtime win by the Tri-City Americans dropped Portland from third in the U.S. and into the first wild card seed in the conference. As a result, rather than keep things close to home in the Pacific Northwest, the Winterhawks will now embark on a northern road trip to Prince George for the first round of the 2017 WHL Playoffs.

The Cougars wrapped up the B.C. Division title Saturday night.

Games 1 and 2 are set for March 24 and 26, respectively, at the CN Centre in Prince George. From there, the two clubs will meet at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum for Games 3 and 4 on March 29 and 30, respectively.

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